the beginning of the battle
After saying that, Nemo Wright—or the Demon King himself, drew his hand back and made a simple gesture.
The pain that had lasted for years stopped at that moment.
O'Luo Rui put his hand on the wall of the bakery in the fantasy world. It felt rough and cool to the touch, and there was a faint reassuring aroma in the air. The chatter of passersby was faintly heard not far away.
He looked at his hands, the cuffs of the waiter uniform were white and clean, leaving no trace of blood and sand, as if nothing had happened.
Since the body died, the flesh and blood belonging to the lantern blind bug in this body began to rot irreversibly. The eyeballs provided by Delarion can only slow down the rate of its decay, but cannot solve the problem at its root. The pain of death continued to gnaw at his internal organs from the inside, and now it finally stopped.
The mild and dry air, the pain-free body, the despair of dying not long ago was like a phantom.
But Aurora did not believe that death was far away because of this - he only felt more and more cold, the ominous chill extended from his limbs to his heart, and the expression of the black-haired youth in front of him became more and more sad.
His father is grieving.
O'Luo Rui didn't know whether the tears shed at this moment were because of reluctance or joy. He had never cried before, and he didn't know how to stop it at this time. After living too long, the Demon Slayer didn't have much emotion left, and now they're huddled together, all flowing into those tears.
The sky in the fantasy world is getting brighter and brighter, and the sun is about to rise.
"You don't like darkness." Nemo touched his facial features, his movements looked a little weird and jerky. "I… sorry, I'm not very good at handling this situation."
His voice was soft and he looked even more sad.
"How long do I have?" O'Lori coughed again, blood splashing on the white cuff of the waiter's suit. Dirty again, he thought regretfully, a numb dizziness creeping up his spine.
"… less than ten minutes." Nemo closed his eyes. "The best I can do is this, O'Lorrie, I'm sorry…"
"You don't need to be sorry, it's been longer than I thought. I'm glad, Father."
Orori could feel his long-stiff facial muscles twist, which was probably a smile.
He had thought he had a lot to say.
But now, looking at the street in front of him, he was relieved a lot. No words, no regrets, grief, or anything else, can make those missed moments come back. There was not much time left for himself, and he didn't want to waste it expressing regrets.
"You all remember."
"Yes."
"Don't blame Dellalienne too much. He doesn't really hate you, father. He just..."
Orori remembered his partner who was still waiting at the entrance of the abyss, and chose the first topic in his gradually hazy consciousness.
"No, that's my problem."
Nemo hesitated for a moment, then awkwardly reached out again and patted his head. Orori doubted which human he had learned it from, but it didn't matter at the moment.
"Well, I just wanted to be a flesh-and-blood puppet for you to scout around. Finding him self-aware, I shouldn't have just dismissed him as a failure, and…"
"Ask me if I want to take him for dinner, he's so frightened that he remembers it now." O'Lorrie let out a chuckle, then coughed violently.
"You were so young at that time. It stands to reason that you should eat in time... No, it's good to eat more." Nemo gestured and scratched his head habitually.
"Fortunately, I refused at the time." Orori looked at the false sky above his head, and the sky on the side near the sunrise was already slightly white. "He's a good partner. Father, I know you've had some conflicts..."
"It's just a different position, I don't know what he thinks, at least I don't hold him against him." Nemo sighed, "Don't worry, as long as Della Lenien doesn't do too much things, I won't embarrass him."
O'Luo Rui nodded slightly, and the arc of the smile on the corner of his mouth became wider.
"You said 'worry,'" he muttered. "You really are not the same as before."
Immediately he received a hug that was a little awkward and alienating, and Orori opened his eyes wide and couldn't help but shudder.
"I can guess the reason for the things you did." The Demon King with the appearance of a young man said, "... You did a good job."
"I saw the surface, O'Lorore. I like the way it looks. The stories you told me were interesting, and I'm just now discovering that. I never really understood you, I…"
Aurore hesitated for a few seconds, then he reached out his hand and tentatively grabbed the fabric of the other's back. Although the pain no longer bothered him, his eyelids were getting heavier.
"I shouldn't have said those words to you." Nemo seemed to be trying to tighten the hug.
"But I'm leaving you for the second time." The Demon Slayer replied vaguely, he could feel the Demon King's body stiffen. "I'll never come back this time, if I'm not around, it's just you..."
The rotation of his thoughts was still a bit stagnant, but Nemo couldn't help but feel sour.
Emotions that he once regarded as useless were making it hard for him to breathe. Yes, maybe it didn't do him any good at the moment. But it can give him an answer, a spell that can make the other party more calm.
"It's ok."
There was a bit of bitterness in his voice, and Nemo patted the back of the demon in his arms. The other's life was fading like water, which caused a sour tingling somewhere in his chest.
"…I'll be sad, but I'll get over it and remember you."
remember forever. Not as a piece of information, not as a tiny life that had been fed, but as a person who would bring pain, but he was still willing to miss.
"But if you continue to stay here alone like this..." O'Lorrie seemed to want to say something else.
Nemo was silent for a moment. He probably knew what the other party wanted to say, and the guilt in Aurora's tone almost solidified.
I didn't realize it in time.
"Listen, Aurora."
Nemo gripped the ends of the other's gray hair. He learned to touch emotions, and he also learned to lie—
"I'll be fine." He lied, "If I can figure out a way to leave the first time, I can figure out a way to leave the second time. Unlike before, I won't deny the current feeling again... Am I still on the surface? done."
"not done… ?"
"I fell in love with a human."
The body of the demon in his arms shook in shock.
"You're right, I care about 'that Lopez kid' from the bottom of my heart. If you hadn't taken in and taught Flint Lopez, I wouldn't have met Oliver Ramon now. You do Well done, Aurora... In a sense, you did save me."
Even if he will be erased by Ulysses, this emotion will eventually turn to ashes. At this moment, he does have it.
that's enough.
"I'll be fine," he repeated, his tone habitually bearing the majesty of a superior. Nemo didn't stop and continued to lie. "I won't stay here, I won't be alone. Trust me."
"...I wish I could investigate that human again." O'Lorrie sighed in a low voice, "but now... I wish you could return to the surface as soon as possible, Father. I hope Ramon is different from me. If it weren't for me, I would still have you Fear and suspicion, I won't find you now..."
He said softly, a bit of bitterness mixed in his smile.
"You are gentler than I thought. Before you left the abyss, my body was still alive. That 'Ulysses' would attack all living creatures nearby, but the only one who never approached my body... Even you at that time , also remember that I was here... protected me..."
He let go of the hug, and his orange eyes were half-closed, dimming even more.
"Look, Father. Feelings aren't useless, neither mine nor yours. They've made me live so long, and I should have died."
Orori turned his head slightly and looked at Chaoyang in the illusion.
Nemo silently grabbed the opponent's wrist and tried to deliver more magic power, but found that the opponent's magic circuit had begun to collapse, his heartbeat became weaker and weaker, and he could no longer absorb a single bit.
"Now let me answer your question. The last time I left here, I just wanted to tell you one thing... I've been wanting to tell you for so many years. If you are now, you should be able to understand... "
The melancholy that had been entangled in the Demon Slayer's brows finally melted away. At the last moment, O'Lorrie didn't look at Nemo, he continued to stare at the false sunrise, heaving a sigh of relief—
"...Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see the world."
There is no dissatisfaction, regret, nor reluctance or attachment. There was nothing but pure gratitude in that sentence.
Simple and persistent.
"My pleasure," Nemo replied softly, giving him another hug.
But he was still a few seconds slower, and only fine ashes were scattered in the air in front of him. The undead wandering in the world was finally able to rest, and the body that had already reached the limit was turned into powder.
I can't always say goodbye.
The streets disappeared, the pedestrians disappeared, and only the dim light of dawn still shone at the bottom of the abyss. This time, what it illuminates is not a peaceful and quiet human town, but a corpse pile that exists in reality not far away.
Nemo stood up and walked over to the dead body of the lantern-blind bug. He stretched out his hand and carefully stroked the demon's icy body.
"Have a good dream, Aurora."
The crimson flames ignited, and the unclosed white round eyes of the blind insect were illuminated by the firelight, and the corpse began to gradually turn into powder.
In the next battle, he didn't want the opponent to see it.
Over the past few thousand years, Nemo hasn't revealed much about himself to O'Lorore. Orori may not be clear, but he knows it very well in his heart - facing a "Ulysses" who combines the strengths of all the demon kings in history and only has a fighting instinct, theoretically he has no chance of winning.
Nemo raised his eyes and looked at Ulysses, who was standing quietly not far away. As O'Lori's body burned, it began to murderous and restless again.
Whether it's the Demon Lord who always followed the best choices, or Nemo Wright of Roadmark Town, maybe he won't make senseless resistance again. He tried and struggled, didn't he
Nemo stretched out a hand, and the shadow condensed into a rope in his palm. He twisted the rope skillfully, and tied the black hair that was loose at the back of his head into a short ponytail.
[Your actions are meaningless, you have no chance of winning.]A voice repeated in his heart, familiar and cold.
[I know. ] He replied calmly to himself.
[You know what is waiting for you. With Jesse Dylan still on the surface, Oliver Ramon may have known the truth.]
[I know.]
[After all, he is a human being, even if he does not take the initiative to attack you now, he will one day attack you. This body will be destroyed, return to the body, screen out useless feelings, and you will continue with the original plan. And he promised Nemo Wright that he would give priority to maintaining peace on the surface.]
[I know.]
[If you don't act as soon as possible, he will definitely kill you. Now that you can calculate all the possibilities, you know this very well. What you are doing now will only give him more time to become stronger.]
Nemo stopped and took a few deep breaths. The extremely destructive momentum suddenly exploded, and the bottom of the abyss was suddenly filled with flying sand and rocks. He moved his neck and stared intently at the huge and twisted monster not far away—that was his own form more than 20 years ago.
[I have learned two very important pieces of information on the surface - dying struggles are effective.]
He calmly responded to the "instinct" that was tumbling and clamoring in his heart.
[And in this world, there is never anything "destined".]
Nemo stepped on the ground, the fine sand dispersed, and the ground suddenly sank into a huge pit full of cracks. The black shadow spread out like fangs around him, biting straight at the target—
"Come on, Ulysses."
The black shadow collided with the sharp limbs, and a series of sharp explosions exploded in the icy air.
"Until one of us falls."